Shadow Veiled Senshi
by Shad4c
Summary: During the Silver Millenium there were 9 senshi...yet no Sailor Moon. Now the Senshi that was never ment to reawaken....has. Now Ranmas life takes a cosmic twist.
1. Shadow Veiled Senshi prologue

Shadow Veiled Senshi  
  
(Ranma/Sailor Moon X-over)  
  
By Shad4c  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma and Sailor Moon belongs to other people. Not me. This is purely done for entertainment purposes and no profit is made from it in any form.  
  
Prologue  
  
End of an Era, Start of the New   
  
Sailor Pluto looked on from the Gates of Time as the forces of the Dark Kingdom overran the last Senshi, and what remained of the Lunar Guard. She leaned heavily on her staff as though the weight of the Silver Milleniums fall rested on her alone, for in a way that she and she alone knew, it did. SHE was the one that had turned a blind eye to the creation and preparations in the Dark Kingdom. SHE who had hid the fact of Metallicas release, all for the promise of a better future, the dream of Crystal Tokyo.  
  
She sighed, straightened, and returned her attention to the gates as the final moment approached and Queen Serenity raised the Silver Imperium Crystal. In that moment, as the Crystal flared and sent the Princess and her Senshi into the future, a second power flared far away for a far different purpose. It mingled with the Crystals power and in so doing drew its wielder to be re-born with the Senshi.   
  
Had Pluto been listening, she may have heard the faint voice in the power call out, 'void phoenix death pyre', as it too died. If she had she may have prevented what would come, finished what she started years ago, but she didn't and it past by unnoticed.  
  
"Now I must wait," muttered pluto as she straightened and moved slowly away from the gate, parting the mists as she did so.She teleported into the ruins of the Moon Palace and let her gaze wonder, kicking a small rock she pondered. It will be a long wait for the Senshi to return but she had a lot of preparation to do, THIS time she would build a perfect Utopia.  
  
"THIS time you can't INTERFERE!" She shouted triumphantly up at Space, then she turned away and teleported back to the Gates of Time.  
  
Had she waited a moment more she would have seen Space darken and radiate shadow of a moment as if to Refute her.  
  
Its Senshi would live again.  
  
In the Future (Present Day,Japan)  
  
A black haired baby slept, a faint symbol flickering for a moment on its forehead.  
  
Authors Notes:-  
  
Well this is the first part of my first fanfic, so please be nice. I hope you like it, I've got a general idea of where I'm going so bear with me, ok, GREAT! This is one of several ideas I have, which I'll post when I get round to writing them up. I'll try to update regularly, but I do have busy days, so I can't promise anything.   
  
P.S. I'm looking for pre-readers, and places to post fics. If you can help e-mail me.   
  
Please send constructive comments (Flames will be used to heat my room) to shad4c@hotmail.com. 


	2. SVS chapter 1

Shadow Veiled Senshi   
  
(Ranma/Sailor Moon X-over)  
  
By Shad4c  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma and Sailor Moon belongs to other people. Not me. This is purely done for entertainment purposes and no profit is made from it in any form.  
  
Chapter 1   
  
Darkest Hour, Moment of Rebirth   
  
Ranma crouched low to the ground in a defensive stance, Ginjaika held out infront of him diagonally, his clothes had seen better days with the red chinese top and black kung-fu pants sporting rips and burns from Saffrons attacks. The Hiryu Hyou Toppa had failed to kill Saffron, it had however allowed him to get Akane the water from the Dragon tap she needed to survive. Before the Phoenix king finished regenerating he handed her off to Ryoga and ordered them all to run. He realised that Saffron wouldn't stop until he was dead, so one way or the other he had to finish this fight.  
  
That was an 5 hours ago and the Ginjaika had just run out of power, stupid cheap piece of junk. Whoever heard of a MAGICAL weapon running out of power. Ranma just hoped that Saffron didn't realise this. Just then a small fireball ripped down from where Saffron was hovering, striking the weapon and superheating it causing Ranma to release it. Jumping backwards to get some space he started bouncing around the clearing to avoid the steady stream of fireballs the Phoenix was launching at him as he laughed.  
  
"Foolish human, didn't you think that I knew the powers and limitations of my own weapons," the godling sneered loudly "Now die!".  
  
At this Saffron launched a massive volley of smaller fireballs which penned Ranma in and buffeted him from all sides with heat and debris, knocking him to the ground.  
  
He pulled himself to one knee and looked up as his opponent let loose with the biggest fireball yet.  
  
"ROYAL Phoenix SUPREME FIRE-BLAST."  
  
He stared defiantly at it while desperately reaching inside of himself for more strength. The strength to move, to defeat Saffron......and came up empty but for the inner barrier around part of his soul that he'd sensed since starting to use his ki.  
  
As death barrelled down on him, Ranmas shoulders slumpt as he resigned himself to his apparent fate. Just then an event from the distant past interrupted this chain of events. The final flash of light from the star that was destroyed at the moment of the Fall of the Silver Millennium reached Earth. Unnoticeable in the light of day it never the less had a drastic effect. The last strands of the power that caused that destruction vibrated in the air and sang within Ranmas soul, as to his amazement he found that inner barrier shattering and new strength surging through him. Power beyond his imagination roused waiting for his call. His eyes refocused on the fireball and his opponent beyond, both which moved as if in slowmotion, while he pulled himself to his feet and shouted to the sky.  
  
"NEMESIS CRYSTAL POWER."  
  
A blaze of shadow and silver lightning enveloped him as he felt the slight tingle spreading through his body that signified the change from male to female. As she was stripped of her clothes and donned her new uniform. Saffrons fireball struck, exploding and obscuring the area from view.   
  
"Let this be a lesson to all those that dare defy ME," the Phoenix boasted as he smiled down at the destruction.  
  
Under his gaze the dust parted and a lone figure is seen standing. Dressed in a white fuku, black with silver trim knee length boots and black with silver trim elbow length gloves. A short skirt and necktie which were also black with silver trim. And finally a silver bow in front and a larger one in back. In her hand she held a double-bladed lance, made of a black metal with silver patterns engraved into it, connected by gold crossguards and a blood red grip.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked arrogantly staring down his nose at the newcomer.  
  
She lifted her head and stared back up at Saffron, then smirked before replying.  
  
"I'm known as many things, I am the Senshi of Space, the Warden of the Dimensional Veil, the Dark Guardian. I am.... Sailor Nemesis, and I am your end."  
  
With this she raised her Lance and went into a combat stance.  
  
"Foolish mortal, I will crush you for this insult!" Saffron screamed as he folded his wings and dived at her with flame covered fists in a fury.  
  
The only response from Nemesis was a furrowing of her brows as she spun her lance in a circle facing the charging Saffron, leaving a black trail of energy behind at arms length. She then split the lance in two, forming a pair of swords, taking a step back with one foot and crossing the swords horizontally, facing Saffron, close to her body. The swords were sheaved in black energy as she thrust them through the energy circle, calling out...  
  
"NEMESIS VOID BLADES."  
  
...As a barrage of magical vacuum blades ripped out, killing Saffron and levelling everything for the next 300 meters in that general direction.  
  
It was over, she had won, she watched in wonder as Saffron reformed into an egg to be reborn again. She then turned and walked away, the Phoenix people would find him and somehow she knew that there were very few things that could crack a Phoenix egg. It was no longer her concern and she had to join up with the others. Breaking into a run Nemesis raced through the valley, marvelling at her speed, far in excess of what she could normally do. What had happened to her? Where did all of this power COME FROM? Why did she feel...whole.   
  
Questions....Questions that she was determined to answer as she neared the Camp his companions had set up and instinctively de-transformed.   
  
Remaining in girl-form Ranma stepped into the light cast by the campfire and was greeted by the amazed looks of her companions. She walked over to a nearby patch of grass and laid down.  
  
"I won, I don't want to talk about it, not for a time at least. The first one of ya that asks get ki-blasted to Jusenkyo and back, got it!" Ranma stated, glaring at the assembled people with eyes so cold they quickly nodded, before turning over and going to sleep then and there.  
  
The others just looked at each other and blinked, deciding to follow suit.  
  
In a certain shrine in Juuban the sleep of a shrine maiden is troubled by visions of black energy,silver lightning, red hair and a strange senshi-type symbol, a sword with wings from the ends of the crossguards and a upside down crescent moon across the blade,  
  
Authors Notes-  
  
This is the first true chapter, I hope you liked it. I'm going to jump forward in time again in the next chapter to after the return to Nermia, it cuts down on writing travel scenes and lets me carry on the story. Barring flashbacks this SHOULD be the last big timejump in the story.   
  
Please send constructive comments (Flames will be used to heat my room) to shad4c@hotmail.com. 


	3. SVS chapter 2

Shadow Veiled Senshi   
  
(Ranma/Sailor Moon X-over)  
  
By Shad4c  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma and Sailor Moon belongs to other people. Not me. This is purely done for entertainment purposes and no profit is made from it in any form.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Finding the Path  
  
The sun shined over the Tendo Dojo in Nermia a unusual pease clung in the air. Ranma looked out over the rooftops of the district and into the horizon for his own place on the Dojos roof. His mood was sober and he was frowning as he leaned back on his hands in thought, the trip back form China had been quiet and the group had excepted the explanation he gave as to how he beat Saffron by taking the Kinjaika and using the two staffs together to form a powered-up Hiryu Hyou Toppa.  
  
It was easier then trying to explain what had really happened, explain the transformation, the power that came to him, or should that be her, and the knowledge and flashes of memories about things he'd never seen or done. It was really starting to annoy him. He needed to sort this all out, maybe a training trip, with school out he could spend as much time as he needed, with finances and rivals to bother him.  
  
Just the a voice called up from the kitchen   
  
" Dinners ready!"  
  
With this he lazily jumped down into the backyard of the Tendos and made his way into the house where the Tendos were gathering.  
  
They all sat and started to eat with Soun crying over how good the food was, and Genma and Ranma engaged in their customary battle over food. The normal routine that had developed over the past year at meals. When the meal was finish Ranma sprung his annoucement on everyone.   
  
"You know...since it's summer and all...I thought that I'd go on a training trip for a couple of weeks," stuttered Ranma, watching his father and the the Tendos closely. Seeing the impending tirade he quickly continued.  
  
"I learnt a lot in China, I have some ideas for new techniques that I want to develop.....I was lucky with Saffron, I have to improve, and that mean some REALLY intensive train," Ranma admitted the last part reluctantly.  
  
Soun cheered up instantly and opened his mouth to say that Akane should accompany him when he was cut off by Genma of all people.  
  
"If your going boy you might as well go now, it might rain later."  
  
Everyone stared at Genma in amazement, he was the last person they would have expect to agree to this.  
  
"What?."  
  
"Stupid boy, if your going go, you've been slaking off recently, a training trip will be good for you, now GO!"  
  
With that Ranma raced up the stairs to pack while the others at the table kept staring at Genma.  
  
"Why, old friend, why? What about the schools," Soun wailed, well into his Niagara Falls impression.  
  
Genma shuck his head slightly and tryed to look wise.  
  
"The boy needs some time alone, he had to do something no-one should have to do. Pushing the engagement now would just push Ranma away. Besides Tendo when he comes back I'm sure he'll be ready to admit his love for Akane," he state solemnly nodding to himself at the end as Soun praised the plan and the Tendo Sisters turned to look up the stairs.   
  
When Akane went up the the Saotomes room later she found it to be empty of both Ranma and all of his belongings. This of course sent her into a rage about inconsiderate jerks that wouldn't stop to say goodbye.  
  
By this time Ranma had already made it into a small wood outside of the district of Nerima. He sat down and dumped off his large brown travelling backpack to the side. Holding out his hand he summoned a small black and silver stick from somewhere. Staring at it, he could feel that it was connected to the power inside of him. A part of it in some way, what drew his attention the most was the strange symbol the stuck up from its top, a winged sword with what he knew to be an upsidedown crescent moon across its blade. It seemed to draw him in, both familiar and alien all at once, warming and chilling his soul at the same time. A that moment a vision, a memory, flashed into his mind playing with crystal clarity.   
  
I am kneeling in front of a tall silver haired women with a golden crescent moon on her forehead. The women sat on a silver-white throne and wore a flowing silver gown. I can hear the nobles of the court behind me, talking quietly among themselves. They didn't matter, at this moment only the women in front of me did.  
  
"Arise, Senshi of Space. So you are the one the power choose. I'm sorry for your loss, your predecessor will be missed," spoke the Queen, the sincerity of her feelings were plain to me.  
  
I rose to my feet and looked back at her kind eyes before tilting my head and squaring my shoulders, standing proud in the white, black and silver Senshi uniform that was now mine.  
  
"Thank you, your Majesty. I swear I will perform the dutys, and uphold the position of Sailor Nemesis to the best of my abilities."  
  
At this Queen Serenity smiles...  
  
And then the moment is over and he's back in the clearing in the wood looking across at a line of trees.  
  
"What was that? WHO was that? How did I, how could I, know her? Man this gets weirder by the minute." Ranma muttered to himself, shaking his head in order to clear it. Falling onto his back he looked up at the sky and sighed.  
  
"Why do these thing happen to me."  
  
He lay there for a couple of minutes before setting up his tent and walking over to the centre of the clearing, looking around him for any witness' he gazed at the pen for a moment before throwing it back in storage (he could feel that it was a crutch of those who didn't have his training to allow use of their power,) and reached inside of himself like against Saffron. He reached deep and felt the power surging through him like a massive wave, empowering and filling him with a feeling of being a part of something greater. Again the words bubbled to his lips.  
  
"NEMESIS CRYSTAL POWER."  
  
When it was over she was standing in girl form wearing the same sailor fuku as last time. The lance in her hand, was the first thing that caught her attention as it shone in the light, the sunlight reflecting off the black metal. As she moved it in front of her the knowledge of how it should be used flooded her mind, katas and techniques. Her body insinctivly started flowing through her as another memory hit her.  
  
She watched her mentor and adopted mother, the Elder Sailor Nemesis, as she held out the weapon that had entranced her since she first saw it. Its black blades gleamed menacingly, seeming to promise death to those who faced it.  
  
" All of the outer senshi have their talismens, Uranus' Space Sword, Neptunes Deep Aqua Mirror, Plutos Garnet Orb and Saturns Silence Glaive. This is my Talisman, and someday yours, the Void Lance. It can act as a lens for my power, and its edge can cut through all but the strongest of shields or magically reinforced materials. It holds other secrets but those you will learn another time." stated Elder Nemesis after which she placed the Void Lance back into storage.  
  
"When will that be?"  
  
"When you take my place." Elder Nemesis spoke with finality.   
  
After this flashback Nemesis continued to work on the katas she had remembered until night fell and decided to call it a night, de-transforming, changing back to a male via ki heated water and crawling into his tent he went to sleep.  
  
While Nemesis was settling down for the night, an old threat was waking in the dark kingdom. A crystal prison laced with cracks finally shatter leaving a blond haired man in a battered gray uniform laying on the floor. Slowly he got to his feet and gazed around a long abandoned throne room. A chuckle came from him and quickly became an full blown evil laugh. He was free, and now he would have his revenge thought Jedite smugly.  
  
In a temple in Juuban, a nearby house in the district and a tent outside of Nermia worrying dreams of destruction haunt three people. As in their dreams tokyo is in flames while a deep evil laugh echos around them. They each sense the presence of each other and turn to look, only catching the colours of the others fukus before the dream ends.  
  
Authors Notes-  
  
Another day, another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, I'm picking up the story now so you'll see more action and more of the senshi. I remember jedite doing an illusion of tokyo burning in Sailor Moon it puts out a dramatic picture of what will happen if the senshi don't win. Note that this story is centred on Ranma/Nemesis and will be told mostly from his perspective.  
  
  
  
Please send constructive comments (Flames will be used to heat my room) to shad4c@hotmail.com. 


	4. SVS chapter 3

Shadow Veiled Senshi   
  
(Ranma/Sailor Moon X-over)  
  
By Shad4c  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma and Sailor Moon belongs to other people. Not me. This is purely done for entertainment purposes and no profit is made from it in any form.  
  
You can find my fics at:-  
  
Lady Cosmos Fanfic Library - http://ladycosmos.anifics.com/  
  
Nighthawks Fanfiction - http://nighthawk.anifics.com/  
  
and  
  
Ranchan Totally Crossed Out - http://tannim.anifics.com/  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Unravelling Visions  
  
Ranma slowly rose in the early morning and started on his morning routine. Get up, get dressed, warm up with a couple of kata to wake up fully and then stuff himself with whatever he could find. Such is the life of a Saotome. So far he had reached the 3rd stage of this 4 stage process, but now his mind roamed backwards towards last night, slowing his kata.   
  
Why was it that he could never have NICE, quiet, normal dreams like everyone else had. It was always nightmares of sometype or another, ever since he'd gotten to Nerima...well ever since the Cat Fist actually but while living at the Tendos they had diversified. This was the last thing he needed, Tokyo in flames, a classic evil villain laugh 101 in the background(slightly different from the crazed martial artist laugh 101 he was used to hearing) and a couple of girls in fukus. He'd came here to sort things out...wait...those fukus looked a little familiar...I wonder....  
  
GROWL!!!   
  
Ranma's stomach protested the interruption in the normal flow of things in the only way it could.This brought his mind back to the important things for a Saotome (i.e. eating) and he proceeded to set about dealing with it. Strange dreams could wait no matter how real they seemed.  
  
At the same time over in a certain temple in Juuban, Rei Hino, shrine priestess and Sailor Mars, sprung awake at the end of the dream. She pulled herself out of bed and dressed quickly. She shivered slightly despite the warmth of her bedroom, she was thinking back to the dream, the vision really for that was what it had felt like. She sat down heavily on her bed, the emotional weight bearing down on her overwhelming, for a moment.   
  
It was meant to be over, the enemies, the youma, the battles...all of that was to have ended with Galaxia. With that Rei squared her shoulders as her fiery spirit roared back up from despair, they were the Sailor Senshi, champions of love and justice, they'd fought and won in the past and they would so so again. With a determined frown she reached for her senshi communicator to call the others for a meeting.  
  
"Meatball Head better not be late this time". muttered Rei, as she used the communicator to call her princess.  
  
At the Gates of Time Sailor Pluto is already scanning for the enemy she never predicted. Nothing could be allowed to threaten Crystal Tokyo thought the Senshi of Pluto grimly as she scanned even harder.  
  
About midday the Senshi, both Inners and Outers, were assembled together at Rei' Shrine. They seated themselves in a rough circle around the room, lounging on the various chairs. So far nothing had been done as Ami and Hotaru read, Luna and Artemis lay on the table watching Rei, Minako and Makato chatted, Haruka and Michiru snuggled and Usagi read Rei' Manga. Rei surveyed the group that had assembled together and decided it was time to start the meeting with or without Setsuna. Besides if she didn't then Usagi would probably decide to take that manga home and she hadn't even read it yet!  
  
"Ahem!" Rei loudly cleared her throat gaining the attention of all the senshi, even Usagi after a good long glare at the blond haired girl that had her scrambling to attention.  
  
"Now, I called you all here since I had a vision last night" Rei prepared to continue then only to be interrupted by Haruka.  
  
"What you saw the face of your next boyfriend" she smiled at her joke. Rei glared back at her.  
  
"No...I saw Tokyo in flames...bodies everywhere....a horrible laugh floating in the air". Rei shut her eyes as she forced herself to remember. The pain in her voice sobered Haruka and the others, causing Usagi to get up and put an arm around the raven haired senshi for comfort.  
  
All the senshi turned their minds inwards as they faced up to the fact that the battles they had thought finished had started again. Silence reigned for several minutes before Luna spoke up again in a quiet tone.  
  
" Rei is their anything else you can remember about this vision, anything at all".  
  
The Inner Senshi looked appalled at this while the outers listened harder as Rei pulled herself together, smiling gratefully at Usagi. She took a deep breath before continuing.  
  
" Only one thing" Rei started, the others crowded closer " I..I wasn't alone. I don't know who else was there, all I saw of them we're colours. One was white, green and black, the other was white, black and silver. I didn't see anything else but...I sensed they were seeing the vision like I was, that they were not part of it".  
  
As she finished, Rei looked apologetically around at the other senshi, receiving smiles in reply.  
  
"Well there's not much we can do at the moment except wait and prepare ourselves. You girls had best go home and do anything you need too. I have a feeling that we're going to be pretty busy in the near future". Artemis spoke with confidence as he strolled over to Minako and allowed her to pick him up as the senshi rose and followed his advice.   
  
As Rei sat in the empty room she wondered to herself, where was Setsuna...and who were the other two watchers. She then stood and went about her duties for the day with a grimmer air about her then she'd had lately.  
  
As the Senshi were filing out of the meeting with new worries on their mind, Ranma had finish practising in normal form for the day, having spent all morning in it and was about to try out his new powers again. He called on the powers with the battlecry...  
  
"NEMESIS CRYSTAL POWER".  
  
...Triggering his transformation into Sailor Nemesis. She stood there for a moment, eyes closed. With the transformation came not only the power but a slightly greater clarity of mind, with this clarity the dream of the night before, returned to haunt her.  
  
Its vividness, the raw sense of evil and danger, it was so strong that she could almost taste it. Whatever it was, she would probably have to deal with it when it came, the thing that caught most of her attention was the others in the dream...the others watching what she was.  
  
Who were they?  
  
What were they doing in her dream?  
  
The flashes of red, white, green and black she'd caught before the dream stopped didn't give her much to go on.  
  
Ah, well knowing her luck she'd find out sooner then she wanted to anyway so no point worrying about it. Better to test out her new abilitys more.   
  
She walked up to a huge nearby boulder and punched it as hard as she could, totally destroying it with the force of the blow. She blinked and looked at her hand for a moment stunned, even Ryoga couldn't have done that without the Bakusai Tenketsu. She then took a stance and punched as fast as she could, a small sonic boom rocked the area as her fist completely shattered the sound barrier. The local wildlife scattered at this while Nemesis was unaffected by the noise. She opened her fist and stared at it again. The Old Ghoul would totally freak. Thought Nemesis, NOTHING was that fast without using ki to boost their movements. Heh, an image of Nemesis challenging Cologne to a Chestnut Fist duel with her enhanced speed flashed through her mind, that would show her. Then a flash behind her eyes sent her back into her memories.  
  
I'm running through the latest of the techniques that my Sensei, the Elder Nemesis, has shown me while said person looked on. The holo-training room is set to neutral so nothing but gray walls and sparkling energy crystals can be seen, barr the large control panel by the doorway.  
  
As I finish the technique and turn to my Sensei she nods and strides, for she moved to purposely for it to be called walking, over to the control panel. Once there she hits a button and a large metal rectangle with handholds appeared. She then hit another button on the console and my own weight pressed me down, she must have increased the gravity in the room. She nods towards the block.  
  
"Pick it up"  
  
I look at her and then back at the block before stepping forward and crouching down to grip the block. Once I had a good hold I lifted with all my might, which because of my training is considerable. Even so I only JUST managed to lift it before being forced to drop it again. Almost crushing my foot in the process!?   
  
Looking back at Elder Nemesis I saw her nod and gesture at the block again.  
  
"Now transform and lift it"  
  
I blinked at that and did as she told me, chanting my transformation phrase and becoming Younger Sailor Nemesis. I then went back to the block and lifted it with ease before putting it back down.   
  
Feeling like an idiot for not doing this before I again turned back to my sensei. She was smiling sympathetically.  
  
"Why didn't I tell you to do that the first time? It was easy in Senshi form wasn't it". She spoke softly, watching as I nod. "I did that for a reason, the senshi form doesn't give you any extra speed or strength despite popular belief. What it does is multiply your existing levels of speed, strength and endurance. If you could lift that in normal form then you wouldn't even feel it as a Senshi".  
  
She watched as I took this in before continuing.  
  
"Since your in Senshi form........."  
  
  
  
  
  
Nemesis blinked as she returned to reality before smirking and getting back to testing the limits of her physical abilitys.  
  
8 Hours Later  
  
After a grawling 8 hours of training Nemesis felt like she had a fairly good idea of where she was at physically. Now for the next stage.  
  
She dropped into a defensive stance and reached inside of herself for her power. During the battle with Saffron she had tapped it, and levelled a good strip of land along with Saffron in the process. She was hoping for something a little less destructive this time so she drew on the smallest amount of power she could, feeling it rise up and take form into what she somehow knew to be her weakest attack.  
  
Arms moving of their own accord her hands balled into fists, index and little finger pointing out. Her right hand came up parallel to her face on its left-hand side while her left hand was held in front of her right elbow, fingers pointed off to her side. She then snapped her right arm forward so it was pointing at her target while quickly pulling her left arm diagonally back across her body. As this happened she released her attack at a boulder with the cry of.  
  
"DARK DRAGON LIGHTNING!"  
  
A mass of black lightning shot forward and smashed into the rock, breaking it up and scorching the pieces.  
  
Well it was a little better thought Ranma, still have to work on my control though. Thinking about the attack an errant thought summoned the Void Lance into her hand, as it caught her eye it triggered another flashback.  
  
I stand in a small clearing in one of Earths Great Forests watching as my Sensei casts her basic Senshi attack, the Dark Dragon Lightning. I watch as it breaks and scorches rocks in the area. Elder Nemesis then speaks to me.  
  
"It's time you see another of the Void Lances powers" she spoke, summoning the Talisman before setting up for another Dark Dragon Lightning. "It can act as a lens, enhancing the power of any of our attacks".  
  
She then unleashed a Dark Dragon Lightning through the Void Lance. Instead of breaking and scorching the rock it vaporised it before my eyes. As I gawked my Sensei turned and stared grimly at me.  
  
"Such is our power"   
  
Nemesis shook her head before glancing at the Talisman in her hand and repeating the movements of the Elder Nemesis from her memories. A massive amount of black lightning shot from the horizontally held blades of the Talisman before vaporising an innocent rock.  
  
Exhaling slowly Nemesis glanced down at the weapon with new respect before deciding to call it a day, de-transforming Ranma went for something to eat.  
  
GROWL!!!  
  
A Saotomes stomach is never satisfied.  
  
Elsewhere a blond haired man stands in a darkened room with a glowing ball infront of him, slowly collecting the scraps of power leftover from his deceased mistress. Meanwhile, a green haired Senshi continued to scan for a threat she never foresaw, determined to stop it.  
  
Authors Note  
  
Well this is chapter 3 I hope you liked it, by the way thanks for the e-mails, keep them coming! I know I said there would be action but it just doesn't fit in with the story yet. The training room is a cross between DBZ's gravity room and Star Treks holodecks. See you next chapter!   
  
I'd like to thank my pre-readers:-  
  
Goku Goku   
  
Gerold Jordan  
  
Staumkinar 'Puck' Silverbreeze  
  
(Priest of The Church of Time and Chaos)  
  
Please send constructive comments (Flames will be used to heat my room) to shad4c@hotmail.com. 


	5. SVS chapter 4

Shadow Veiled Senshi   
  
(Ranma/Sailor Moon X-over)  
  
By Shad4c  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma and Sailor Moon belongs to other people. Not me. This is purely done for entertainment purposes and no profit is made from it in any form.  
  
You can find my fics at:-  
  
Lady Cosmos Fanfic Library - http://ladycosmos.anifics.com/  
  
Nighthawks Fanfiction - http://nighthawk.anifics.com/  
  
and  
  
Ranchan Totally Crossed Out - http://tannim.anifics.com/  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Looking through Leaves  
  
A new day was dawning over Japan as people started to awaken and go about their daily lives, the sun drawing them from their slumber in droves. While in a forest clearing a lone figure dressed in red and black chinese clothes was leaping and punching in the dawns red light. The figure leaped and dodged around the clearing, bouncing off trees and skidding through the remains of boulders, broken in the previous days practice. This had been going on for an hour and a half before dawn arrived and only now slowed to a stop as Ranma finished his morning practice session and relaxed. While warming down from the exertion he took in the state of his temporary home, the pristine nature that had drew him here still existed even with the loss of a few rocky features, while the early morning animal sounds were quieter then before he attributed that to yesterdays activities.  
  
Strolling back to his campsite, Ranma started cooking, as his stomach informed him of its needs in a familiar way.  
  
GROWL!  
  
A long suffering sigh escaped him as he waited for his breakfast to cook.  
  
  
  
The first part of the morning rolled on without incident as in Juuban the Senshi, with the exception of a certain green haired Senshi of Time went through their normal morning routines, putting aside the worries that had arisen yesterday to enjoy the moment.   
  
Pluto however was far from carefree, she had been standing infront of the Time Gates, scanning up and down the time-stream for over a day and STILL! hadn't found the cause of the vision that she had experienced. She was certain that anyone else would have given up and passed it off as a bad dream, that or decided that it would be better to concentrate on preparing of this threat then to vainly search for the metaforical neddle in a haystack.  
  
Pluto stretched straightening out the kinks in her body that had resulted in the motionlessness for over a day, before frowning in thought. Why! did it seem so important to find the cause of the vision?  
  
She stood and thought on this for a few minutes, letting the question bounce around in her mind hoping to spark a response.   
  
After a while she was rewarded, the reason was that there was something familiar within the vision, something important. If only she could REMEMBER!?   
  
Pluto allowed the frustration to show for a moment before burying it under her iron will. She would remember soon enough, she just had to look harder.  
  
With this she raised her staff and again focused on the Gate, this time she would find the threat, she wouldn't fail...not again.  
  
The day had just past midday and Ranma had finished his mid day meal (to anyone else a feast) and cleaned up, heh, Hidden Weapons sure comes in handy or else he'd never carry enough food. Pleasantly full he lay back on the grass and gazed up at the cloud in quiet contemplation. Something he didn't normally have time for with his life but the main reason for being here.  
  
Ranmas mind roamed the spaces of his mind, his life had changed a year ago when he had finally settled down at the Tendos, both for better and worse. He smiled slightly, it was nice to have a place to call home after all those years on the road. To be able to make new friends and set down some roots without wondering when he'd be forced to move again. Sometimes in the middle of the night as Genmas greed forced then to flee.Stupid old man!?  
  
That last thought caused him to lose his smile and turn to the other things that had happened. Much of what they had been running from had caught up with them, mostly the Pandas fault but he was man enough to admit that he'd added to the problems...a little. Now he had a bunch of lunatics out to kill him, a bunch of girls out to marry him and the assorted craziness that came with them. Sure he'd gotten a lot more skilled, mostly be necessity, and it was fun at times to but it had started to get out of hand.   
  
Ranmas eyes grew grim, the problem was that most of the insanity revolved around the engagements, engagements to 3 different girls, well techniquely 2 and a tribal marriage but it was close enough, none of which he was sure he wanted to marry at all. Depression welled up as the weight of his problems fell upon him. He sulked brouding over this for a time before pushing it aside, he couldn't do anything about it at the moment so he may as well move on.  
  
As the clouds shifted overhead so did the focus of his thoughts, from the past to the future.   
  
Just as his life had changed then he could feel that it would change again. This power he'd tapped, the memories that flooded him at times...even that stupid fuku she was forced to wear as Sailor Nemesis. It all seemed to be drawing him into something....bigger. Sometime more noble he supposed.   
  
Ranma sighed and sat up, drawing his legs in to sit cross legged while leaning on his hands behind him. Now staring at the horizon he saw nothing as his true gaze was still inwards, who was he kidding he still didn't have a clue as to what was really happening.  
  
With that a flash of inspiration, rare outside of fights, hit him like one of Ryogas punchs. He jumped to his feet and cried out.  
  
"NEMESIS CRYSTAL POWER!"  
  
This time as the power washed over and transformed him into the Senshi of Space he focused inwards.   
  
The times she'd experienced her new memories the clearest were when she was a Senshi, those memories must be the key to this mess. If he could get back all of her new memories instead of the fragments that had dribbled in so far maybe she could make some sense out of all this.  
  
With this thought foremost in her mind the new Senshi shut her eyes and again focused inwards, grasping for anything that could help remember. Even this was in vain as everytime she grasped for a memory it drifted further away from her, slipping through her mental fingers like an eel.   
  
Nemesis kept this up for another 10 minutes before giving up and shaking her head in frustration, letting her mind wonder freely.   
  
As she walked towards the forest in order to get some more practice in her thoughts drifted across several things, the memory of training in the forest with the Dark Dragon Lightning, and the winged sword and inverted crescent symbol she'd seen on that strange rod she'd summoned. The twin response staggered her a little, almost causing her to trip. The first, smaller, flash of knowledge provided her with the exact location of the forest used in her memories as well as how to get there, or at least how to get there in whatever time these memories are from.   
  
The second flash sent her again tumbling through her memories.  
  
The great hallway I'm walking down leaves me in awe, both of the wondrous white marble and glitting crystals, interspaced by paintings and murals of the highest quality, along with the knowledge of what and potentially WHO I was passing. For I strode down one of the most presteqous halls in the kingdom. The hallway where the senshi stayed while in the palace.  
  
This was an honour I never thought I'd have, me, a child of two low level mages, from a family with no special position or talents. I am almost to my destination, my thoughts turning back again. Yesterday I was a no-body, doing my chores like any 12-year old, next a SENSHI walks up my street and points at me.  
  
"Her" Is the only word she says before turning and walking away leaving several of her escort behind. The guards approached me and my parents who had come to see what the noises were about. They just looked at me and told my parents that I had been ordered to the palace. With that one of them picked me up and carried me away while the others stayed and talked to my parents.  
  
I was placed on a starship and taken to the Moon where, to my surprise, I was lead to a set of rooms, cleaned up and put to bed for several hours.  
  
When I was awoken I was also given new clothes before being told to dress and follow a guardsmen in his gray and silver uniform. He lead me to this corridor were I now stand infront of the door of the one who summoned me here. Her symbol carved on her door like all the others.  
  
A winged sword with a inverted crescent moon across the blade.  
  
The sign of one of the most feared and respected Senshi of all.  
  
The Warden of the Dimensonial Veil.  
  
The Senshi of Space.  
  
The Dark Guardian.  
  
Sailor Nemesis.  
  
Drawing a slow breath I raise my hand and knock. The door swings open of it own accord and I step hesitantly into the room...  
  
Nemesis blinks as she looks around to see not a room but the clearing again, it takes a moment for her to realise that she was back in the present.  
  
She lightly smacks her face with her hand to clear her mind, those memories were so REAL, it's like she's back there living them herself!?!?  
  
These memories are going to be a real pain, Ranma thought, but at least it gave me something useful this time. She smirked as she went over the location of the forest in her mind, it was in Japan but a way away from her current location. She'd probably have to catch the train and that would cost her both time and what little yen she managed to keep out of Nabiki's mercenary hands. She frowned in thought, on one hand it would take time and money, on the other it was a posable clue to figuring out whats happening to her. She scowled, if only she could get there faster.  
  
With that another ability flowed into her mind, causing Nenesis to fall to her knees and grit her teeth, as pain so intense it almost caused her to black out flooded her being. After a few moments it stopped leaving Nemesis on her hands and knees in an empty clearing.   
  
Slowly dragging herself to her feet Nemesis grimist, that sure put a new meaning to the word be careful what you wish for, before summoning the Void Lance into her hand and pointing it in front of her. Pulling on the new knowledge that had PAINFULLY sprung into her mind she used her power to manipulate the fabric of space. The knowledge of how to make astral bypasses and to create, and more importantly, seal Dimensional Rifts (or D-Rifts for short) was now hers.   
  
A meter in front of her a black line formed out of thin air before expanding sideways so that one person could pass through. The space between the edges of the bypass shimmered light blue with a watery texture. stepping forward Nemesis strode through the bypass...  
  
...Coming out in a forest that was much larger and much older than the one she he'd just left. Spinning round she just caught sight of the bypass collapsing leaving nothing behind to show that it ever existed. Only her new senses telling her that something had been there. This caused another flash of memory to hit her.  
  
I stare at the small astral bypass that hangs in front of me between my hands.I've been standing in the holo-training room for 3 hours today so far and roughly 5 hours every day since my Sensei showed me how to make them, 4 hours longer then i should have.   
  
I hear faint footsteps approucing and quickly banish the bypass, before turning to see Elder Nemesis enter the room. I smile at her, before the expression on her face causes me to lose it. We stand looking at each other for a minute, long enough for me to start worrying what punishment I'd have to deal with before she smiled thinly.   
  
"Congratulations, you've managed to make a bypass I can now move on with your training" Elder Nemesis spoke taking in my shocked expression.  
  
"How did you..!?" I exclaimed.  
  
She lost her smile and spoke seriously.  
  
"I am the Senshi of Space, Warden of the Dimensional Veil, these are not empty titles for use in the Queens court. Anything that warps space or deals with the dimensional wall I can feel, no matter how well hidden, how long ago happened or even if it has on just begun... I'll sense it. And so will you someday." Elder Nemesis took a breath before continuing " These are our domain, the things at the core of our powers, and we can do things with them that no normal mage, or even another Senshi could. Take that little bypass you just made, it would take a dozen experienced mages 2 weeks to do that if they knew what to do. You did it in 3 hours with only the basic knowledge on how to form them. Soon you'll be able to form far larger in moments. Not even Queen Sincerity can do that".   
  
As she finishes an air of amusement radiates off of her.  
  
That the Gates of Time Pluto feels a faint burst of energy, it distracts her for a moment before she dismisses it as unimportant and returns to her search.  
  
Nemesis groans as she comes out of the memory, the damn things just seemed to keep coming today. She was starting to regret wanting all the memories, knowing her luck the process would would kill her. Shaking her head ruefully Nemesis took a look at her new surroundings with curiosity.   
  
The forest was definitely the one in her vision, the large trees and flourishing undergrowth were mainly of the same types as she'd seen in her memory. She walked deeper into the forest continuing to examine her surroundings carefully, there was something familiar about this forest...like SHE'D been here and not just from her memory. This though tugged at her as she walked, after another hour she came up on a small cottage when movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning her head she caught a glimpse of a giant lizard before it disappeared back into the forest. With that it clicked in her mind why this place was so familiar. It was Ryugenzawa! The forest with the water of life and that damn orochi. She muttered to herself about the unfairness of it all before continuing on to the cottage. She may as well drop in on Shinnosuke and see how he was. Just before she reached the door she realised that she was still in her Sailor Nemesis form. As Nemesis was about to de-transform the door in front of her opened up and an old man stepped out, halting after seeing a figure in front of him.  
  
They blinked at each other in surprise, Nemesis at the sudden appearance of the man, the old man at Nemesis' presence and outfit. The old mans mouth opened to ask who she was when his eyes tracked across to the Void Lance held at her side. As soon as he caught sight of it his eyes widened in shock and awe before flicking back to her face. He ducked back into the cottage with surprising speed, leaving the door open.  
  
Nemesis blinked again at the reaction, looking across at the Talisman before shrugging and following the old man through the doorway. Inside she walked down a hallway, with a number of rooms branching off from it. From the end room on the left she could hear the noise of someone moving and headed for it, as she stepped into the room she was witness to the sight of an the man pulling books off a shelf, flicking through them and throwing them aside. After doing this for several minutes, and accumulating a large pile of discarded books, he suddenly stopped and stared at a particular page in the book he was holding. He turned towards the door and flinched when he almost ran into Nemesis. He stared and began to stutter.  
  
"Y..y..you! Your...your...her. That's...That's the Void Lance isn't it! So you must be Her!?" His voice picked up strength as he talked "My apologies, my name is Daisuke, I'm one of the caretakers of this forest".   
  
He bowed slightly with this, holding the open book in one hand.  
  
"It's...nice to meet you Daisuke. I'm called Sailor Nemesis, it's nice to meet you". Nemesis replied returning the slight bow. Missing the slight widening of Daisuke's eyes at the statement.  
  
"Of course I have been rude please come to the living room and I'll get you some refreshments, I insist". Daisuke spoke, walking past Nemesis and heading into the living room. After making sure that his guest was comfortably seated he headed to the kitchen and returned to the refreshments. Seating himself opposite to his guest across a small table he placed the book down. He turned it to face Nemesis, as she looked at it she immediantly saw why he had reacted the way he did, there in perfect detail was a picture of the Void Lance. She flicked vision between the picture and the real thing comparing them. They were identical, her gaze returned to Daisuke to see him watching her.  
  
"How did you get this?" asked Nemesis  
  
"It has been passed down my family line since ancient times, the book, like several others of its kind I have here has a powerful spell on it that keeps it in perfect condition". Daisuke replied " The knowledge in these books are passed down my line to each new caretaker. The weapon is said to be the Talisman of the one who charged my ancestors with looking after this place".  
  
He sat back as he said this, contemplating the living legend before him. Nemesis stared back, before looking down.   
  
"I'm sorry but I don't remember that...I probably will eventually but..." She raised her head and stared back at Daisuke "I came here because I...remember...practicing here in the past. I'm looking for anything that could help me remember more".   
  
She stared at Daisuke intensely, hoping that trusting him with this wasn't a mistake. Her grip on her Talisman tightened as he closed his eyes. After several minutes he replied.   
  
"Perhaps...perhaps there is something that can help you. There's a cave in the north of here, if you follow the path you'll find it. Inside it is said to be a gateway according to the books this was where Sailor Nemesis always appeared". Daisuke opened his eyes and looked thoughtful. "If you leave now you can get there before nightfall".  
  
He stood and gestured for Nemesis to do the same, she followed him to the front door and stepping outside before turning back to Daisuke.  
  
"Thank you, I'm grateful for the help". Nemesis spoke to Daisuke.  
  
"Thats ok. I'm just sorry I can't come with you but I have to be here when my grand-son returns, good luck".  
  
"Heh, no worrys I'll see you around".   
  
With this Nemesis gave a cocky wave and turned away, headed north along the path that Shinnosuke's Grandfather mentioned earlier. Daisuke watched her as she walked away until her figure faded into the distance before closing the door.  
  
Back in the darkened room, Jedite was almost finished collecting the energy left in the Negaverse. A frown of concentration set on his face betrayed how much of his strength it was taking to control the brightly glowing energy ball in front of him. Soon, soon he would be ready, then he would have his revenge. He smirked slightly.  
  
Author's Note  
  
Well here's chapter 4 I hope you like it.   
  
Please send constructive comments (Flames will be used to heat my room) to shad4c@hotmail.com. 


	6. SVS chapter 5

Shadow Veiled Senshi  
  
(Ranma/Sailor Moon X-over)  
  
By Shad4c  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma and Sailor Moon belong to other people. Not me. This is   
  
purely done for entertainment purposes and no profit is made from it in   
  
any form.  
  
You can find my fics at:-  
  
Lady Cosmos Fanfic Library - http://ladycosmos.anifics.com/  
  
Nighthawks Fanfiction - http://nighthawk.anifics.com/  
  
and  
  
Ranchan Totally Crossed Out - http://tannim.anifics.com/  
  
Authors Note - = start/end of flashbacks.   
  
Chapter 5  
  
Looking at Ruins - Senshi Style  
  
By the time that the sun was resting on the horizon at the end of the day, Nemesis had reached the entrance of the cave that the path lead up to.   
  
It was a fairly easy walk, the path was a little... overgrown... by now but there were no major natural obstacles (the vines had only tried to strangle her twice and that poison needle spray was just reflex right?), while the animals seemed to know to avoid her, at least after she'd Dark Dragon Lightninged 3 of them.   
  
The cave itself was a fairly general looking hole in a cliff surrounded by a small grass clearing, large enough to let a van through with a little room to spare.  
  
Nemesis looked around at the enterence with a vague sense of dissapointment, before shrugging and striding into it. The darkness of the cave wrapped around her like a blanket as she continued on, the light from outside soon becoming too dim to see by as the cool wind blowing in from the mouth and the darkness combined to grant the tunnel a tomb like quality. In response the Dark Senshi paused of a moment to concentrate, focusing her ki and ignited her battle aura. The ghostly blue fire of confidence illuminating the surroundings in a pale blue filled with soft shifting shadows which flickered and changed as she moved forward.  
  
The cave itself narrowed until it was a thin passage large enough for two   
  
people to walk through side by side comfortably. At this point Nemesis had been walking for 5 minutes, the cave was straight and the passage that had   
  
sloped downwards sharply at the beginning, was now levelling itself off. A sure indication in her mind that it was coming to an end.  
  
Two minutes later Nemesis' guess was shown to be right as the passage   
  
ended at a large metal door, made with a dark material that seemed to draw in the goustly blue light from her aura. It was elaborately decorated with flowing silver script from some strange language and an equally elaborate set of pictures and symbols spread out across the door. All of which seemed to stand out while still being part of the door as a whole, chaotic and individual while still being orderly and united.  
  
Examining it for a minute Nemesis reached out a gloved hand to push the door   
  
open, since she could see no signs of any type of handle. As her hand came in   
  
contact with the door, the patterns glowed faintly in time with a similar glow covering her hand. In response, the door swung backwards slowly, hindered by the damage done to it by the entropy of time. Nemesis watched the door as this was happening, ignoring for the time being the sight that it reveals , as the door continued on its steady path to an open state. Nemesis glanced down at her now upturned palm.   
  
Blinking slowly in mild surprise at the reaction of the door to her hand the senshi shook off the mild shock and put it down to some sort of magic.   
  
She then turned her attention to the newly revealed room, as she heard a faint click when the door settled into its new position. She was immediately forced to shield her eyes as the room suddenly flared up with almost blinding light. After adjusting to the new level of light and dropping her ki aura, since it was no longer needed,   
  
she carefully stepped into the room looking around, as she did so, for   
  
any... surprises, its past users may have left. Her idiot father had sent   
  
her into enough old temples (occupied and abandoned) and burial grounds (stupid skeletons!?) in search of money and lost martial arts techniques for her to be careful (the money being the Pandas' motivation, the techniques her own). Seeing no signs of any such things, she carefully moved further into the room. She took note of her surroundings scanning for threats.   
  
Described in one word it would be called.. barren, the wall, floor and ceiling were the same as the passage she'd just exited with the exception of glowing white crystals at strategic places along the walls and ceiling. Having said that the room was of a respectable size, only emphasised how empty it was. The only thing else in sight was a raised metal platform in the centre of the room.  
  
Seeing nothing else of interest, Nemesis walked over to the platform   
  
and looked down on IT. It being the circle with a glowing yellow crystalline   
  
top on it. Crouching down and running a finger along the edge of the yellow   
  
crystal, she growled as she felt more memories assault her, by now, memory-recall abused mind.  
  
I'm walking along the corridor in one of my rare visits to the Moon   
  
Kingdom's palace from which Queen Sincerity rules. Ahead of me is my   
  
Sensei, leading me through the winding corridors of the Palace even though since we are both in senshi form we never get lost, a nice side effect of being the Senshi of Space. In the Palace it also a vital one since the place had been constantly improved and expanded over thousands of years so no-one knew every passage way. Staff knew and even lived in their own small parts of the Palace and that was that, guests where passed from one guide to the next as they travelled through the mammoth building. We finally come to a small room with a small yellow crystalline disk on a raised metal platform in the centre of the other desolate room, my Sensei walks up to stand by it, then stops and looks at me.  
  
I look back at her, then at the disk, then back at her again in confusion. By now I could feel the residue of warped space around the device, hell I could practically TASTE it, so I knew that this was the reason we were here. I simply didn't know WHY it was the reason we were here.  
  
" Are we here to destroy it?" I asked with confusion, it was in the palace so it MUST be official somehow, or was it?  
  
"No young one, we are not, although sometime I wish I could!" Elder   
  
Nemesis answered, a slight smile tugging at the edge of her lips on an otherwise grim face.  
  
"Then why?"  
  
"To show you one of the biggest headaches any Sailor Nemesis has to   
  
deal with". The Elder Senshi waved her hand over the metal disk, losing her smile "This is a teleport disk, they are rare thankfully, since they're extremely difficult to build. It allows high ranking people to move around the system at high speed by teleporting them between disks."  
  
At this Elder Nemesis' smile turned rueful. "Teleportation of the type used in this techno-magic device warps space, and hence I have a constant number of false alarms going off all around the system on top of the real ones that I have to deal with. None of which I can ignore."  
  
I nod as the meaning of the trip becomes clear to me. Before again asking why she doesn't destroy them.  
  
"I let them be, since they do come in useful for me as well as everyone   
  
else, even if I don't need them" She finishes looking back at me with a grimly amused smile.  
  
I must have looked at her strangely, because she elaborated.   
  
"Any type of teleporting takes POWER for everyone else! P-O-W-E-R!!! While its easy and cheap power-wise for us, any use of power leaves a marker that others can pick up if they know what to look for. It's very difficult to do and we're almost impossible to pick up in this way but it can be done. This   
  
device means I can travel around the system without leaving a power trail for   
  
someone to follow." She sees the spark of comprehension in my eyes and   
  
nods happy that her lesson seems to be sinking in.  
  
"Now since we're here I must pay my respects to the Queen and her   
  
daughter"  
  
I groan at the thought of the formality to follow, one of the greatest reasons that I avoided the Palace whenever I could.   
  
Nemesis groaned in real life as she pulled herself to her feet, the   
  
information was nice but she could do without the instant playback all the   
  
time. Well, at least she now knew what this thing was, she grinned cockily.   
  
'Lets try it out'.  
  
Stepping onto the disk, Nemesis found herself speaking 'Moon Palace' in   
  
a musically flowing language. With this, the world lit up and she felt it warp around her. She shut her eyes..  
  
...To open them to a pitch black room.  
  
With Ranma's disappearance on a sudden training trip, a unsteady peace   
  
had settled over the not-so-sleepy ward of Nerima. With the main focus of all their actions missing, the various members of the Wrecking Crew had no reason at the moment to live up to their infamous reputation.  
  
While Ryouga had set out to find Ranma when he had heard (with stop offs in Antarctica and the Sahara), dragging Moose along with him, Kuno was his normal delusional self ranting about vanquishing the dread sorcerer and freeing his two loves... as soon as he recovered from his twisted sisters latest poisoning. The Fiancees had taken a 'wait and ambush   
  
Ranma at the first chance' option (or in Akane's case bash him for leaving   
  
without saying goodbye).  
  
In the Nekohanten, two Amazons were busy with the midday rush, with   
  
Moose away and Ranma not available Shampoo had to work twice as hard. She   
  
grumbled about blind idiots and recipes for 'Peking Duck' as she made her way   
  
back to the counter for another order.  
  
"Two bowl of chicken ramen for table two, Great Grandmother" Shampoo   
  
told Cologne as she put down some dirty bowls.  
  
"Coming right up Granddaughter. Is there something on your mind? You   
  
don't seem focus'd on your work" Cologne asked with concern.  
  
Shampoo sighed and looked around before speaking in a low voice.  
  
"Why we no follow Airen, Great Grandmother?"  
  
Cologne nodded and looked wise (doing a far better job of it than   
  
Genma).  
  
"So thats what's bothering you today is it Granddaughter, don't worry   
  
yourself so. Sometimes it is best to back off for a while, particularly in   
  
this case. Ranma has killed. No matter how good his reasons, that is what it   
  
boils down to. He used the Art to take a life and now he needs some time and   
  
space to come to terms with it. I would be more worried if he hadn't done   
  
something like this. He'll be back Granddaughter. Now, table two's order is   
  
ready".  
  
Cologne handed over two steaming bowls of ramen to the now smiling   
  
waitress who nodded in thanks and made her way to the correct table. The old   
  
Elder watched her for a moment before turning her attention back to her work.  
  
'I hope you find the answers you seek Son-in-Law'  
  
Over in the Ucchans a brown haired chef was also dealing with the midday   
  
rush with the help of her self-appointed servant Konatsu.  
  
Business was good at the moment but she couldn't make herself excited   
  
about it. Something was missing, something important. Ranchan.  
  
When she'd heard that Ranma had left she was all for up-rooting her   
  
restaurant and going after him. After all she'd come to Nerima for Ranma, ok   
  
admittedly to kill him, but she'd stayed because she loved him, and that   
  
counted for something. It was Nabiki and Kasumi of all people that had   
  
pulled her aside as she prepared to leave and convinced her that this was   
  
something that Ranchan needed to do alone.  
  
She sighed as she flipped some butter, it hurt that he hadn't come to   
  
her about this or said goodbye. Of course, the same was true for Shampoo and   
  
Akane, and that made her feel better. When he came back they'd had a lot to talk about.  
  
Just then Konetsu walked over to the grill with an order and she forced herself to refocus on the task at hand.  
  
Meanwhile, in the Tendo Dojo, things were quiet, Genma and Soun were in   
  
the living room playing a game and chatting about the old times and what it would  
  
be like when the schools were joined. Akane was out with her friends somewhere,   
  
and Kasumi was in the Kitchen cleaning up after dinner when Nabiki strolled   
  
in. Kasumi looked up and smiled gently at her sister before going back to her work.   
  
Nabiki sat on a nearby chair and watched her older sister work for a   
  
while before speaking.  
  
"Do you think Ranma's all right?"  
  
"I'm sure he's fine Nabiki" Kasumi responded quickly glancing at the   
  
middle sister. "You know he can look after himself".  
  
"Will he be back?"  
  
Kasumi paused at this blunt question and thought as Nabiki continued.  
  
"After all he's been thinking a lot more, and a lot deeper since Saffron.   
  
He's gone off to think no matter what he said about training. What if he   
  
decides he doesn't want to come back?"  
  
Nabiki's voice was strangely neutral throughout this speech, she then leaned forward and waited for a reply from the elder Tendo.  
  
"He'll be back, he's not his father. He'll come back even if it's to   
  
say goodbye and straighten this whole mess out." Kasumi spoke with confidence.  
  
Nabiki smiled slightly before settling back in the chair again to watch her   
  
sister in peace.  
  
While Nabiki was wondering about Ranma's future, the person in question   
  
was wondering were the hell she was now. She promptly smacked herself in the   
  
head with her empty hand (she was holding the Void Lance with the other).   
  
She was in the Moon Palace of course, thats where she told the teleporter   
  
to take her after all. It also...felt like the Moon Palace, although the feeling was vague, distant or.... faded. She cranked up her battle aura again to provide light, then headed out of the room.  
  
If she remembered correctly then she should be near the Senshi's  
  
Hallway, the most likely place for her to find answers. As she walked down the dark corridors she felt sad, the memories of this places magnificence and the present reality of broken marble and cracked crystal depressed her, what had happened to this place?, what had destroyed it?, hopefully she could find  
  
something here to answer her questions, 'preferably WITHOUT sparking to many  
  
memories at once'. Nemesis chuckled slightly at this thought before turning into the hallway see sought and stopping.   
  
Looking down a hallway as cracked and damaged as any of the others  
  
she could see that the doors to the Senshi' rooms looked pristine, a stark  
  
contrast to the devastation that surrounded them.  
  
Something was strange here, from her time in Nerima she'd noted that a   
  
door was more likely to be damaged than a wall. With the level of damage around here, these doors should be totally smashed. What was so special about them?  
  
In answer to her question more memories surfaced.  
  
"What's so special about these rooms Sensei?" I asked Sailor Nemesis "I mean, I've been in yours a lot and, well, while it's a REALLY nice room it doesn't seem all that special"  
  
She looked down at me before smiling and taking my hand. Leading me   
  
through the palace we arrived before the Senshi's Hallway, she then pointed   
  
down at all the rooms in turn.  
  
"Sailors Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and my own room, Sailor Nemesis."  
  
I looked down the hallway noting the pristine look of all the doors   
  
except for Sailor Saturn's, which looked run down and uncared for. I pointed   
  
this out to my new Sensei.  
  
"There is an answer to your question little one. The rooms are linked   
  
to the Senshi they sometimes house. As long as that Senshi exists then so   
  
does the room and its magic keeps it in pristine condition. There isn't a   
  
Sailor Saturn at the moment so there is no magic for the room to draw on, when a new Saturn awakens then the room will restore itself to pristine condition.   
  
The same is true of all the rooms in this hallway." She explained patiently.  
  
"Ahhhh" Was my only response. After all, What else could I say?   
  
Nemesis blinked back into reality and shook her head to clear it. She growled to herself quietly, she HAD to stop doing that before she got permanent brain damage!!!  
  
Strolling down the corridor she looked at each of the doors in turn,   
  
admiring the artwork on each, and again noting the condition of them, if her new memories were right then that meant that all of the senshi where active at the moment. Something to look into... Maybe they knew what it was that   
  
happened to the palace to cause this. She frowned as she passed Saturn's   
  
door, as a vague sense of warning flittered in her mind, but it passed before   
  
she could figure out what had caused it so the senshi shrugged it off. Reaching the final door in the row, she looked across at the doors to the chambers she had lived in sometimes during another life. She took a moment to admire it like she had done so long ago, before stepping forward and opening it, moving into the room beyond.  
  
The room itself was in fact a small series of interconnected rooms, a   
  
bedroom, bathroom, living room and a small kitchen containing everything a   
  
senshi might need during their stay at the palace. Dismissing the other   
  
rooms for the time being, after a brief inspection Nemesis turned her   
  
attention to the living room. It was nicely decorated with lots of dark   
  
varnished wood, plush furnishing in the form of a sofa and chairs and a large   
  
number of shelves and cabinets. There was also a large desk facing the door   
  
with a single large book resting on an otherwise desolate surface, a shimmering purple dome surrounding it.   
  
Walking around the room to stand behind the desk she looked down at  
  
the object in question, through the field. It was a thin book with a black cover, gold bindings and the symbol of Nemesis on the front cover in glittering silver. The new warden slowly reached forwards, the dome flaring slightly before flickering out as her fingers touched it. Her hand continuing through to gently brush the cover of the book with reverence. Taking a few moment to trace the symbol on the cover. Nemesis snapped her hand back as the book glowed black and opened on it's own. When the cover came to rest the pages flickered infront of her eyes until it reached the final page.  
  
Nemesis stared at the tome on the desk warily, like it was a snake that would bite at any moment (which considering what had happened to him so far it just might!). Before slowly leaning over and picking it up gingerly and starting to read the strange script that somehow made sense, fading into memory as she did.  
  
' My Friend if you are reading this then either I'm showing it to you or you have found the Book of Nemesis on your own. With the circumstances that I find myself in at the moment I.. unfortuently... feel the latter has a more likely chance of being true. Ether way this means you are Sailor Nemesis since........'   
  
"...this is the only way you could have opened or even touched this book." I spoke aloud as I wrote the word while sitting on one of the large rocks that seemed to abound on this barren planet my exiled wanderings had taken me to. I look up a the dull orange sky and feel the space around me, I exspell a resigned sigh at what I found before I went back to writing.  
  
"And since this is the page your reading then you must have tripped the spell I will place on the book, making it open to this page when next opened at all. This means that you are my successor, inheritor of an ancient power and responsibility, one I am sorry I cannot be there to help guide you into. Fear not though as the Book contains the combined experience of every one of our predessers mearly close the book concentrate on what you want to know and then open it again and it will be there." I glance up as I feel a shift in the fabric of the dimensional wall across the system I was in, it was near, very near. Bending to my writing with new vigour I finish what I fear will be my last Testament. "Always remember that is your duty as a Sailor Senshi is to Protect Humanity and the other races of this universe from the forces that would destroy them and also to protect the line of Serenity from the Darkness and the Light that will both always threaten to consume them. I wish you luck in your task.  
  
Signed   
  
Ranka Paradox  
  
Sailor Nemesis"  
  
With this I shut the book and cast a spell on it before using my powers to send it back to my room in the Palace. By now I could practically TASTE the warping of the cosmos around me and across the system, the reason that I'm here. I get to my feet, draw my Talisman and prepare to do my duty.   
  
  
  
Nemesis dropped the book back onto the desk as the Space Senshi came out of the memory with a gasp. She jumped back from the table as her thoughts raced and her emotions slid through fear and disbelief. She stood there shaken as she stared at the words again. She was about to speak aloud when she suddenly felt the same feeling she remembered a D-Rift giving off coming from Tokyo, the aquatranssexual senshi grabbed the book and shoved it into her sub-space storage pocket. Turning away from the desk she swiped the Void Lance through the air and formed an astral bypass, before stepping through it and onto the roof of building overlooking an abandended lot in Juuban. Staring down the new senshi hardened her resolve and jumped into the lot.  
  
Authors Note:   
  
OK loooong break between writing this and the last chapter but here it is, I hope you enjoyed it.  
  
Please send constructive comments (Flames will be used to heat my room) to shad4c@hotmail.com. 


	7. SVS Chapter 6

Shadow Veiled Senshi

(Ranma/Sailor Moon X-over)

By Shad4c

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon belong to their respective owners. Not me. This piece of fiction is purely done for entertainment purposes and no profit is made from it in any form.

Authors Note - start/end of flashbacks.

Fight scene music rec.- Realise from Gundam Seed. :p (What I was listening to when I wrote it)

Chapter 6

Stepping into the Maze

It was a pleasant day all around in Juuban as most people went about their daily business. Ranma however had no time to enjoy the scenery as he plummeted down the side of the building he had been standing on, armoured in her uniform as Sailor Nemesis. As the new Senshi fell towards her debut as a Champion of Love and Justice (Although she'd probably pummel anyone that dared give her that title, and if they did it again deliver the ultimate punishment... force feeding them Akanes cooking), she took in the scene on the ground below.

The lot itself reminded the normally male pig tailed warrior of the place that he had waited for Ryouga in order to have the great bread duel when they were younger and the Hibiki direction curse hadn't been so strong in bacon breath. The unconscious bodies, hidden from sight if you were on the ground yet easily visible from her descending viewpoint, quickly dismissed the amusement brought about by the thought

Landing lightly and dismissing the Void Lance back into storage Nemesis glared across the lot at the monster that was roughly dragging an obviously drained boy towards the other bodies. The monster itself appeared to be vaguely female and seemed to be made out of old tires of different shapes and sizes with 2 larger tires sticking out on spikes from its shoulders.

Setting herself Sailor Nemesis pointed at the monster and announced her presence loudly.

" Hey you! Yeah you, last year's skidmark! Abandoned lots are for kicking P-chans butt not draining people and dragging them around like the Tomboys tuna surprise! In the name of Nemesis, I'm going to kick your ass!" The Dark Guardian said before she charged towards the monster.

* * *

Elsewhere a blue haired girl's computer started beeping loudly causing its owner and the other girls she was trying to help with their latest homework to look at it sharply and tense. Reaching out and lifting it up the blue haired girl glanced at the flashing displays. After a moment she nodded sadly to the others, getting a set of wiry sighs in return as the girls got up and quickly headed outside.

* * *

The monster reacted by dropping its barely living victim and snarling.

" Senshi? Die! TYIUR!"

Nemesis's speed had allowed her to cover the distance between them in record time and her reactions let her duck under the hasty swing by the monster. Twisting on her front foot the martial artist spun into a roundhouse kick, intending to knock the tire thing away from the boy. The execution was flawless, exactly how she had been taught however the result was far from what she planned. Instead of launching her opponent across the Lot her leg was violently bounced backwards, throwing her off balance and causing the silver skirted senshi to barely escape a punishing downwards blow by flipping away one handed.

Frowning, Nemesis bounced forwards once again and started raining blows on her enemy as she waved through its untrained counter attacks. The frown was quickly whipped away by the familiar smirk that many of the people she had fought in the past learnt to loathe. Of course the traditional Saotome Distraction Technique, Annoy the Hell out of them and look good doing it (The second part being something Ranma thought he did far better then the old Panda) soon followed this.

" Wow that was cool, love the Slow Mo".

" Should I find some oil?"

" You know I don't want to be your friend already so stop trying to hug me will ya!".

" I know pigs that aim better then that!?"

" TYIUR!!"

"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

Taking advantage of the monsters enraged attack Nemesis dodged around the back of her bizarre opponent and unloaded a full chestnut fist into its back. Again the plan worked perfectly, every punch landed with Senshi-enhanced strength backing it up, even Ryouga would have been put down by it.

Unfortunately plans and Saotomes' don't really go together.

The recoil of the super fast attack sent the Space Senshi reeling only to be caught by a heavy kick and sent through a nearby wall. Shaking the fog from her mind Nemesis scrambled to her feet only to pause as she saw the building inside the wall. She then groaned as she realised what it was.

" Ahh man! I never gunna hear the end of this if…"

" TYIUR!" Came the battlecry from beyond the ruined wall, stopping the new Senshi mid sentence and reminding her of why she had been knocked through that stupid wall in the first place.

* * *

Rushing across Juuban with magically enhanced speed 5 girls braced themselves for the coming battle with the newest rogue Youma.

* * *

Charging back through the hole she'd entered the property via, Nemesis raced towards Tyiur with a ticked off expression only to have it change to alarm as the spikes on the monsters shoulders rotated over its shoulders and launched the tires attached to them at her.

" Hah! What was that meant to be, a…" Dodging the attack Nemesis smirked again and started a new series of taunts when the finely honed danger sense she'd developed to avoid ambushes, Fiancées (Still needed some work), the Pandas creditors and most importantly, the un-nameable beasts, flared up. This allowed her to twist out of the way of most of the rebounding tire that hit her in the back, sending her stumbling once again instead of knocking her to the ground.

The next few minutes consisted of a strange game of Senshi dodgeball as Sailor Nemesis bounced around the Lot in unpredictable patterns, chased by flying tires and the screams of an angry monster.

As the rookie Senshi finished dodging a particularly tricky attack, she looked over at Tyiur only to see the spike mounted tires deployed and pointing in her direction while spinning rapidly. A horizontal whirlwind blasted forth from the monster hitting Nemesis and catapulting her back into a wall once again.

" Ahahahaha! Pathetic!" The female tire monsters gloat rang in the red hared fighters ears.

Slumped up against the wall amongst floating dust Nemesis cursed herself. Why wasn't anything working? Those attacks would have knocked the Old Ghoul down and this freaky thing shrugs them off like nothing. That magical attack didn't hurt but it was really embarrassing.

The Senshi' thoughts ground to a halt suddenly at that word, magic. It was magic, this thing was a magical monster and she'd been trying to deal with it like it was a powered up Kuno. Time to step up and show it how to really use magic.

Nemesis' regular confidence flooded back. Rolling to her feet and extending her right hand she summoned half of the Void Lance and casually sliced through the tire that had been about to hit her. The look in the Space Senshi' eyes becoming colder and more focused while still retaining an inner warmth.

" Time for you to go, bored now."

With this declaration Nemesis launched the sword at Tyiur, catching it directly in the chest and making it take several steps backwards even as it once again fired off its tire missiles at her. Racing forwards the agile warrior cartwheels between the projectiles and bounced high into the air. Using the Saotome schools special skills, learnt from years of hard training she managed to avoided the rebounding tire projectiles and use one as a launching point in order to catapult back downward towards her target.

* * *

Mercury's visor flashed as it picked up the start of a magical power spike. Willing the small super computer to record it she put on more speed, the others matching this new pace a moment later and casting worried looks her way.

* * *

Summoning the second part of the Senshi Weapon that was a symbol of her station the Dark Guardian shouted a warcry as the blade slid into the monsters head and her feet landed on the handle of her other sword.

" DARK DRAGON LIGHTNING!"

The magical lightning channelled through both blades bit deep into the monster, already past the protective armour, and struck directly at the dark energy that was animating the energy parasite.

With a scream Tyiur was lit up by cackling black lighting and turned of a dark mist, leaving behind a battered Lot and a small pile of old tires in its place.

Taking a big breath the tired Redhead was about to head over and examine the 'remains' of the strange monster when, now she was no longer so narrowly focused to the immediate area, her newly enhanced senses detected a number of powerful magical signatures closing fast. Coming to a almost painful realisation that she wasn't ready for another fight like this until she got some serious training in, the black skirted Senshi slashed open another Astral Bypass.

Before she stepped through Nemesis glanced back at the damaged wall and winced, muttering under her breath as she left the area and the Bypass sealed behind her.

" Man, I hope Ryougas in the Sahara right now."

Several minutes later the Inner Senshi arrived at a run only to find a destroyed area and a chequered dog barking from a nearby hole in a wall. Looking at each other in confusion for a few moments, as the expected fight never appeared Venus then turned towards Mercury who was now carefully scanning the surrounding. Mars and Jupiter wondered off to look at the various damages to the lot itself while Moon kneeled down and started trying to get the nearby dog to come to her and let her pet it.

" Mercury?" Venus said in a questioning tone.

" The Mercury computer says that it's picking up signs of combat-type magic along with residual portal traces. I'm sure there was a Youma here recently." The Ice Senshi said as she analysed the information that the powerful computer was sending her, flashing before her eyes and tickling the edges of her mind.

" I think I've found it." Jupiter said as she kicked a rapidly vanishing pile of Youma dust with her boot and gesturing to it.

Turning her attention towards the disappearing pile Mercury nodded to her friend and fellow Senshi as her equipment verified that it was Youma remains.

" There's something strange here. I can't say quite what it is there's definitely something different here." Mars said airily as she seemed to gaze off into empty space. Her expression getting gradually more irritated as time went by.

The three Inner Senshi looked at each other then towards the fourth for answers to this new mystery.

Smiling slightly as she looked back at them through her visor she felt the familiar cool of her mind and spirit which came with the computer thaw slightly, as it always did when something like this happened. Shaking her head once more the blue skirted Senshi gestured with her free hand first to the surrounding and then towards her computer.

" I've got a much data as I can here but it will take time for the computer to work through them so I can't say what happened here yet." Mercury responded to the silent prompts.

" Does that mean we can go back now, if we hurry I'm sure those buns will still be warm!" Sailor Moon asked cheerful as she stroked the dog.

" Is food all you can think of? We could have a major new enemy coming and all you can think of is your stomach!" Sailor Mars complained to the blond girl loudly as she stalked towards her.

" But Maarrss, I didn't get to even take a bite out of mine yet!" Moon whined, drawling amused and resigned looks from the others.

" If another bunch of negacreeps are rising then we'll just knock them down again, just like all the rest." Jupiter said with confidence as she smacked a fist into her palm with a fleshy smack.

" If theirs nothing here it might be a diversion, we best leave and be ready to head elsewhere. Besides the next episode of my favourite programs on soon and I really don't want to miss it." Sailor Venus said getting a smile from her leader and understanding nods, if somewhat reluctantly on Mars part, from the others.

" Right! Lets go!" The twin tails blond said as she dashed off back the way they had come.

" Damn it Meatball head get back here!" Mars shouted as she gave chase alongside the remaining Inners.

Behind them a gentle misplaced waft of air blew away the last of the Youma dust. A minute after that the only trace of magic or that of its users existence was the battered landscape itself.

* * *

Lunar Palace, moments after the fight

A swirling Astral Bypass appeared in the ancient chambers of Sailor Nemesis, slipping past the old but still active magical defences n a manner only the Senshi of Space was capable of pulling off. Stepping out of the Bypass, Nemesis blinked in confusion at her surroundings.

"Huh? What am I doing back here?" The new space senshi asked herself causing a tiny sliver of knowledge to bubbled up from deep inside of her.

" Backtrack effect? Oh hell, I forgot to set a firm destination, good thing that path of least resistance thing worked, coming back here's not so bad. Have to remember that, hate to end up in Ryougas shoes." Nemesis said softly while wincing.

The knowledge that had sprung into her mind included what happened to a sloppy teleporter or portal maker that did what she had and wasn't lucky enough to trigger the backtrack effect. Death, endless floating in nothingness and mutilation weren't things high on her list of stuff to be experienced. Turning and looking back at the spot she'd arrived from the dark senshi gave silent thanks and vowed never to pull that particular Genma type move ever again.

Pulling herself from her self-recriminations, the black skirted warrior turned away again and began wandering around the room. When she'd first came here she had been drawn pretty much straight to the Book of Nemesis and hadn't really examined the contents of the rooms themselves in any detail. She scowled as a mental voice that sounded suspiciously like her father started berating her about overlooking an opportunity like that. A quick mental malleting of the annoying voice brought a smirk into being as she started randomly pulling odd items and old yet perfectly preserved books from their resting-places to examine them up close.

The items were a surprise to their new owner since they were in very good condition, after some thought Nemesis guessed that part of the rooms' magic must have cleaned and repaired them when she awakened. If it cooked as well as cleaned and fixed stuff she'd never have to put up with the tomboys cooking again, the thought flashed through her head. The smirk grew into a true smile as a mental picture of an irate Akane appeared cooking something only to have it disappear into thin air every time the youngest Tendo tried to serve it to her while she was enjoying a constantly replenishing feast.

The red head skimmed over the books, none of them seemed to be technique scrolls or about her new magic so she ignored them. What did she care about the political system of some long dead country, or locations of strange generators they'd built, that only existed in weird, flash blinding memories. Rubbing her forehead absently Nemesis continues her explorations, every now and then picking up something that looked interesting and dropping it into her dimensional storage pocket. One of the few really useful things that the panda had taught her on the 10 year training trip, almost making up for some of the bonehead things he had done. Almost.

Coming to a particular item on one of the higher shelves the transformed Saotome stretched up and carefully brought it down. Holding the small statue by the base in her left hand she examined it, it wasn't a new design to her being a model of her senshi symbol. The Differences however seemed to call out to her in much the same way as the Book of Nemesis had, that it still did from where it rested on the central desk. Where her symbol was normally a rigid winged sword, black and silver in colour and balanced on the tip of its blade, this one was resting flat, its blade was a deep red and the wings were up and swept back as if finishing off their movement before starting again.

Staring hard Nemesis thoughts ran quickly through her mind. Their was something about the pose… no not the pose, something about… about all of it. Grumbling lowly to herself the irritated senshi sat down in a cross-legged position.

" What is it? What is it about this stupid thing?" Nemesis said.

For several minutes the frustrated senshi tried to puzzle out the mystery of the strange statue calmly only to give up on that approach and start pacing the room.

" What is it! Grrr, no stupid statue is beating me! I wish Nabiki… no she'd sell it and the fact I couldn't beat this to everyone. Mousse, Ryouga and Kuno would never let me hear the end of it. Annoying morons." She complained, the taunts were already ringing in her ears and she hadn't even heard them yet. Bokken boys' poetry adaptation was by far the worst of the 3 sets of insults that her mind conjured up.

Freezing in mid pace she ran back over her last thoughts.

" Kuno, bokken, sword." Mutteing aloud the red haired fighter looked at the statue once again, taking in the position and colour.

" Thrust!" The word suddenly snapped into focus causing a flash behind her eyes as a new memory surfaced.

Looking at her teacher she admired the small statue the women was showing to her.

" I've always done things a little differently then the others. My predecessors were the same it seems." The Elder Nemesis said mysteriously as she smiled at her.

"In what way?" She asked curiously.

" Oh many, many ways. This one however is linked more to our nature then to our job. We've always preferred more and freer options to, how should I say it… thrust into a problem." The older guardian said with grim humour.

Smiling back with confusion she didn't resist as her teacher grabbed her by the arm and dragged her through a Astral Bypass.

" Come. It's easier to explain somewhere else." Were the last words she heard before the pair disappeared for the Lunar Palace. >

Blinking to refocus on the present and rubbing her eyes the young senshi did nothing for a few minutes before carefully replacing the statue in its former resting-place. Her eyes gained a determined glint as in one smooth motion the Senshi of Space formed a Astral Bypass and stepped through it…

… Straight into total darkness.

" Why me." She sighed to herself in tired despair.

* * *

Juuban

In a small apartment a elegant women with long green hair was relaxing. The apartment itself was fairly spartan although what items were in it were of the highest quality. Everything chosen and positioned with excruciating care but their owner to create a feeling of calm and order. The apartment was Setsunas bastion against the world, a place she could safely relax behind trusted defences without the constant magical buzz of the Gates or the chatter of her fellow Outer Senshi.

Sipping a drink slowly the red eyed women considered the events that had happened only a short time ago. Youma activity had been on the rise again and once again the Senshi and other demon hunters had risen to the call to beat the monsters back.

Still something about this hadn't felt right, more then simply someone else killing a youma. More then her inability to use the gates to see who it was, such an ability, in varying degrees of effectiveness, wasn't as rare as she would like dispute her efforts to remove it form the genepool.

Her investigation of the scene had provided her with valuable whispers of the fighters magical traces, traces that were strangely familiar yet different at the same time. A new puzzle to be solved and dealt with if needed.

The Senshi of Time relaxed in her sanctuary and smiled softly at nothing, sure in the knowledge that time solved all mysteries and Time was an ally she knew better then anyone.

* * *

Unknown location

Jedite watched as a Youma grovelled at the base of his thrown stammering out a report on the death of one of his Youma in the field. Leaning against his fist he used his free hand to dismiss the monster. Everything was still moving along well within the scope of his plans.

Looking up he gazed into a dimly pulsing yet slowly growing grey crystal formation floating high above him. Small streams of power flowing into it steadily.

Yes everything was going ahead as planned.

Authors Note-

The main story slowly starts kicking off from here on though. Some OOC on the Senshi side, this is deliberate. The same goes for the other artistic liberties I've taken with something's, all will become clear in time. See you next time.


End file.
